Hawaii is among 13 states given an “F” for disaster preparedness by emergency physicians as part of a national report card.

The annual rating by the American College of Emergency Physicians gives the nation overall a D+ for what it called the country’s failure to support emergency patients.

“Congress and President Obama must make it a national priority to strengthen the emergency medical care system,” said Dr. Alex Rosenau, ACEP president, in a statement.

Along with Hawaii, other states graded with an “F” were Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Montana, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Washington state, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

“Everyone hopes that their communities would perform as well as Boston did after the Marathon bombing, yet nearly half the states received either D’s or F’s for Disaster Preparedness, which is alarming,” Rosenau said.

http://www.emreportcard.org/